Rosholt moves one step closer to UFC return with win over Horwich

It's never easy against Matt Horwich, but if you fight smart and stay out his guard, you can get a win. Jake Rosholt didn't thrill the crowd in Frisco, Tx., but he stuck to his gameplan and took out the veteran to improve to 5-1 away from UFC in the main event of Shark Fights 17.

Rosholt (12-3, 1 NC) got a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all cards. He mixed takedowns with some solid body work on the feet. The former three-time NCAA Div. 1 national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State scored five takedowns in all, but never went to the ground with Horwich, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt fighting under Eddie Bravo.

"I'm just glad to get out here and get a win against him. It was a scrap. I knew it would be 15 minutes of scrapping," Rosholt told HDNet's Ron Kruck. "I was going to land some strikes, land some to his body and wear him out a little bit. I don't see very many people end Matt Horwich .

Following a loss against Kendall Grove at UFC 106, Rosholt was dropped by the UFC. He's only been a pro in MMA since July of 2007. He entered the WEC as a green fighter and got just one fight with Zuffa's smaller promotion before it phased out the middleweight division. Rosholt was probably thrown to the wolves a little too early in UFC. He went 1-2 with a win over Chris Leben and losses to Grove and Dan Miller. Clearly, his goal is to get back to the UFC.

"I just want to keep fighting and keep getting better all the time. Sooner or later I'll get there. That's where I deserve to be. That's where the best fighters are. That's where I want to fight," said Rosholt.

The takedowns always score with the judges and Horwich stayed on his back too long. On the feet, Horwich's charging flurries confused Rosholt a bit in the first, but it was the wrestler who did more damage in the long run. In the final round, he tried an unorthodox flying knee that missed, but followed it up with a left hook that opened a cut over Horwich's right eye. Horwich also had significant swelling under the eye by the end of the fight.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez was also on the card. He ran through a very overmatched Doug Williams and won via rear-naked choke at 2:16 of the first round. Williams (5-13-1) was a late replacement after a wacky weigh-in day where Rodriguez's original opponent missed the catchweight by 23 pounds. This is a career rebirth for Rodriguez (47-11), who's fighting back from a well-publicized battle against drug addiction. The UFC champ back in 2002 ballooned to 300-plus pounds. Last night, he was 227 pounds and still looks like he should eventually fight down at 205 with some more conditioning work. Rodriguez's previous two fights were at a 215-pound catchweight.

The most dramatic moment of the night came when Alan Jouban crushed and finished Andrew Goldthwaite with a left hook (3:25 mark).

Video tip via Bloody Elbow's Mike Fagan

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